In Carlos We Trust, Really

Several high-level, well-paid Miami-Dade County executives are investing in a little job security. At least 24 department directors, assistant county managers, and executive assistants contributed money to Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Alvarez’s re-election campaign. Even the folks who handle the mayor’s image and field calls from the press gave cash to their boss’s $719,860 (so far) war chest.

Considering last year voters gave Alvarez the authority to hire and fire any county employee one would expect the mayor to think twice before accepting contributions from staffers who report directly to him or County Manager George Burgess. Alas, that wasn’t the case.

Banana Republican contacted 12 of the individuals who gave to Alvarez to ask them why they are supporting the mayor, who solicited them and if they attended any fund-raisers. Only one bureaucrat responded. Emergency Management and Homeland Security Director Charles Douglas Bass, who gave Alvarez $250 this past March 18, says he recieved a letter from the mayor's campaign at his home address asking him to attend a fundraiser. Bass says he didn't go, but that he sent a check.

"No one asked me to or coerced me to do it," he says. "[Alvarez] has been a great supporter of my programs and a great boss. I'd like to see him re-elected."

According to Alvarez’s campaign treasurer’s first quarterly report, the following people are supporting the mayor’s re-election bid: